


The Light by Which my Spirit's Born

by colazitron



Category: La Luna (Pixar Short), One Direction
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-28
Updated: 2012-08-28
Packaged: 2017-11-26 11:34:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/650089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colazitron/pseuds/colazitron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's always been Louis' family's job to make up the moon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Light by Which my Spirit's Born

**The Light by Which my Spirit's Born**

 

Louis is seven years old the first time his papa and nonno take him to the moon. He's been looking forward to it for days now, ever since they told him "soon". Their family has made the moon up for generations. It's an incredibly important task, since it tells the other villagers the time. They live by the moon so it's imperative (that's the word his papa always uses) that it never be off.

Said night, the night Louis first gets to come along, is nothing that special but rather close to the new moon, so nonno said they could use his help. Nonno even gives him his first beret and Louis feels like he's floating. And then he _is_. Floating up to the moon that is covered in stars that glow and clang when he pushes them around. He'd heard stories about the moon but he was never sure what to believe. Nonno gets that twinkle in his eyes like when he's fibbing and papa only rolls his eyes. But it's all true and it's beautiful, especially that big shooting star that gets stuck in the moon's surface. Louis feels like he can hear it beg to be released and when he climbs it and hits the top with his little hammer and falls among a shower of smaller stars, he knows he's done good. Everything around him is a glowing, happy gold and he thinks he's never going to forget this feeling.

 

When Louis is nine years old, his best friend, Harry, who is seven, gets very sick. It's winter and cold and Harry has been shivering under a mountain of blankets for a few days now. Louis only knows this because he's looked into Harry's room through the window. Dottore Malik says Harry is contagious and no one's allowed to visit him. Louis knows that Harry is jealous of him for being allowed to go to the moon, so when he still isn't better after a week and Louis is getting to be pretty lonely without his best friend, Louis picks up a tiny little star and puts it in his pocket. He thinks maybe nonno saw, but he doesn't say anything about it, so Louis pretends he didn’t. The next day Louis carefully wraps it in his favourite handkerchief, ties a bow around it and brings it around to Anne to give to Harry.

"Mum said if he's cheery he'll get better sooner," he explains when he hands the bundle to Anne.

"So you brought something to cheer him up?"

"Yes, but... it's a secret, so you can't look, please."

"Oh, I won't, sweetie. He's sleeping right now, but I'll give it to him as soon as he wakes up."

"Thank you."

The next time he comes over, Anne tells him that Harry loved his present and will also probably be feeling better soon. Louis stands outside Harry's window and waves at him where Harry's flattened against the glass as if he's trying to melt through it. When Harry is finally well enough for Louis to visit, Harry pulls the blanket up over their heads and the little star out from underneath his pillow.

"Listen," Harry says and gently runs his fingers over the different tips. Louis can't hear anything but he sees that it glows a little more dimly than Louis remembers.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Harry asks. Louis nods because he doesn't want Harry to be upset.

"I think it's sad though," Harry says with a furrow of his sweaty brow. "You should take it back."

"Okay. I will." Louis bundles it back up in his handkerchief and stuffs it deep into his pocket so he won't lose it.

(Harry must be right because when Louis brings it back, it starts glowing far brighter.)

 

Louis is twelve when he meets Hannah. Her hair shines like the moon-stars and it makes him feel floaty like when he went up to the moon for the first time. Nonno says that's what love feels like and Louis blushes to the roots of his hair while Harry cackles delightedly. But when Louis gets to take her to his first moon ball, not even Harry and Zayn (the Dottore's son) teasing him makes him want to come back down to earth. Instead he tells them they're too young to understand. Harry pouts something dreadful at that.

 

Nonno dies when Louis is fifteen. Hannah is a memory by now and Louis thinks the heaviness in his heart will keep him from his beloved moon forever. The whole village comes together to say goodbye to nonno and push his boat out into the sea at night. Harry stays with Louis through the whole dark night, watching the boat grow smaller under the crescent moon that Louis' papa made up alone today. When the rising sun catches the little boat at the horizon and sets it on fire, Harry grabs Louis's hand.

"It's okay," Louis whispers. "He's a star now."

 

When he's 17, Eleanor is his moon and stars. He starts resenting his position in the village because instead of looking up at the moon with Eleanor, for 27 out of 28 days she has to look up at it and him and he down from it at her. Louis comes to love the sun instead, waking Ella to watch it rise together, parting only when it sets and his papa calls for him. His skin turns golden like the stars. "A bit of the sun and a bit of the moon," Eleanor smiles, when she runs her fingers over it.

For their anniversary his papa gives him the night off as a surprise, telling him gruffly that he's not ready to be a nonno himself and teach another rascal about the moon yet. Louis' laugh rings loudly at that and he hugs his papa before running off to be with Eleanor. They sit beneath the half-moon trading secrets and wishes and sealing them all with berry-sweet kisses from the pie she baked.

A few months later he starts to notice that he's not as eager for every 28th night anymore and she's not as sad about the 27 others either. They sit at the shore one midday, laughing, when she leans over and pecks him on the cheek. Louis looks over at her curiously, and the look they share is enough. They’ve learned to understand each other. Not much changes. Her laugh still tinkles like the moon-stars when he brushes them in order and his skin still glows like them. They still share secrets and wishes, it's just that their kisses are for other people now.

 

Louis is 21. Harry and he are staring up at the full moon when Harry turns his head to look at him.

"Remember when you brought me a star?"

"You asked me to take it back."

"Was it happier up there?"

Louis still isn't sure what Harry's talking about when he calls stars happy and says they can sing. Louis tells him they don't and he would know, but Harry insists he doesn't listen closely enough. Harry's funny under the full moon, so Louis takes a moment to think about his answer, remembers the way it glowed brighter on the moon, how he glowed brighter with Ella.

"Yes."

It doesn't occur to Louis not to take Harry up to the moon with him when his papa falls ill some new moons later until Harry's eyes go as round as the moon itself. _Oh,_ he thinks, _he's never taken anyone with him._ Harry is enchanted by it and they brush all the stars to the back of the moon in silence. When Louis puts the brooms back, Harry sits down in a pile of moon-stars, stroking their tips and pulling some closer while pushing others away, arranging them according to something only he understands.

"I'll show you how they sing," he says. His smile is bright like the sun and his skin glows like moonlight on the sea. He strokes his fingers over different stars like a bard plays a harp and then, almost suddenly, Louis can hear it. The tones are soft and gentle, like Harry and Louis thinks it's only fitting that only he can coax them out of the moon-stars. The melody builds in a bewitching crescendo and Louis is almost blinded by how the stars start to glow and Harry starts to laugh. He's almost sure the village must be able to hear it too. Harry stops abruptly but while the moon-stars dim to their usual shine and the melody fades, Harry's eyes are still brilliantly bright. Louis can't help himself and he leans over to kiss him. He's already on the moon and there's nowhere left to float to, but he'd rather stay with Harry anyway. _This_ is what love feels like.

**The End**


End file.
